White as Snow / Serdar Akbıyık

2011.05.14
stargazete.com

Ten-year-old Hasan is struggling to survive with his two siblings. His father is in prison, and his mother works as a carer in the city. Hasan gets by selling the ayran he makes to drivers. That day, he once again tries to sell ayran, but no one buys any, and he sets off for home. When he hears wolves, he panics and falls into the mud. His mother, on a sudden decision, sets out to return to her children and arrives at the stop. She asks after Hasan and goes after her son through the snow.

White as Snow, made on the basis of Sabahattin Ali’s story Ayran, is a hopeless story, given the period in which the story is set. The more the film’s hopelessness grows, the more its realism and success grow too. The film’s director, Selim Güneş, has in my view made a film of a very high emotional level under very difficult natural conditions. I think it was a project with financial problems. But we must acknowledge White as Snow’s success in bringing the power of literature to the big screen. The combination of amateur and professional actors is also very successful. Here, too, the director deserves congratulations. The film will sadden you, but we should think about the words spoken in the film: “Where there is life, there is hope.” This society was built on the shoulders of the Hasans. This country will go on standing not on the pain of those Hasans but on their happiness. That is our hope, and we must not use it up. We strongly recommend that you see this film…

*****